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NEW YORK — Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice attended services at Harlem’s iconic Abyssinian Baptist Church, where she was lauded by the Rev. Calvin O. Butts as a “friend.”

Butts worked with Rice in her capacity as Nassau County DA and his capacity as head of SUNY Old Westerbury. Rice’s flack, Shams Tarek, said the two have also worked together on crime reduction initiatives.

Rice said she’s not concerned about a poll released yesterday showing her lead over the other challenges has eroded, and she defended an advertisement (blow) linking Sen. Eric Schneiderman to Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., who is perennially under investigation. Schneiderman’s camp repudiated the ad, released on Rosh Hashanah and near Sept. 11.

“I’m so happy to be here today with my good friend, the Rev. Dr. Butts, we’ve worked together on a number of issues on Long Island, and as he noted, it’s just a great way to start the day,” Rice said. “I think it’s important for the voters to know the difference between all the candidates in this race, and there’s a big distinction between me and everyone else: I’m a lifelong advocate, a legal advocate for victims and taxpayers and consumers, and that’s the message that I’m getting out there.

“It wasn’t a negative ad at all, it was an ad meant to show the differences between me and Senator Schneiderman. We’re very distinct,” Rice said. She mentioned it would help the contrast between her “and the four other men” in the race.

The gender card. In the Tuesday primary, it might be all that matters. (Or it could mean nothing.) Still, Schneiderman is this afternoon holding a rally at City Hall, featuring Kelli Conlin, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice NY, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn as well as members Letitia James and Margaret Chin.

But Schneiderman has been conspicuous about his support among African-Americans, airing a commercial in which Mayor David Dinkins and Comptroller Carl McCall laud him. Rice is clearly trying to show her own support among this critical Democratic primary constituency.

UPDATE: Here’s what Butts had to say in the service.

“Now I’ve worked with her to get guns off the streets of several towns out there. I’ve worked with her to help young men, who are unemployed and who have been led to a life of dealing drugs, to find jobs and alternatives to their incarceration. I’ve worked with her to help reunite families and stop child abuse and a number of things. I’m very, very pleased with the work that she does on Long Island. She’s a friend, and she is running for attorney general for the state of New York, which she might win. I’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County District Attorney.
“Kathleen Rice, all the best to you. You all remember the name of Kathleen Rice. You need friends. And we get by with a little help from our friends. Kathleen Rice has been a good friend.”

UPDATE x2: Schneiderman’s camp has also gone negative, using robocalls to remind voters that Rice was once an enrolled Republican. Rice ally Stuart Appelbaum, the head of the RWDSU, said he was “offended.”

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